18 September 2019: The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has created a searchable database of tools and methods for including ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) in planning and decision making. EbA is relevant to achieving many of the SDGs, including those on food security (SDG 2), water and sanitation (SDG 6) climate action (SDG 13), oceans (SDG 14) and terrestrial ecosystems (SDG 15).

IIED, which seeks to make existing tools more accessible to practitioners and policy makers and promote the uptake of nature-based solutions, worked with the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to create the EbA Tools Navigator.

The EbA Tools Navigator catalogs 246 different tools in a macro-enabled Excel database that provides brief descriptions of the tools, their target users, the primary ecosystem they are designed for, their language availability, and other features. The database lists seven stages of EbA: planning; assessment; design; valuation; implementation; monitoring and evaluation; and mainstreaming. Tools listed are identified by the EbA stage they are meant for.

Other useful information in the navigator includes the time needed for application of each tool, and what training or skills are required to use it. For example, the InVEST tool developed by Stanford University for Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Trade-offs requires basic to intermediate GIS skills, is intended for use in assessment and valuation, and requires two to three weeks to learn.

The International Climate Initiative (IKI) funded the development of the project. [IIED Press Release]